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Green Neighbourhoods: the Making of a Sustainable City

Environmental issues
are undoubtedly the challenge of the 21st century. Climate change
and rising energy prices bring the need to seriously reconsider the way cities
are designed. In fact, cities now find themselves at the very center of the
“Green Revolution” as one of the main components for achieving sustainability.
As a result, several urban initiatives are being put forward to make cities
greener, healthier and more eco-friendly. One of these is the concept of “Green neighbourhoods”, which is probably the very
first attempt to connect urban sustainability principles with micro-level
community planning. Recent experiences in Montreal and Portland,
Oregon have proven successful in enhancing active transportation conditions in
neighbourhoods, reducing carbon emissions and building community involvement.

Green neighbourhoods
are designated as such by using various indicators well beyond traditional
variables such as vegetation cover and the size of parks. Green neighbourhoods
are broadly defined as being moderately dense, mixed-use, designed at a human
scale, active and public transportation oriented and literally “green”. The main
emphasis is placed on sustainable transportation and proximity to a diversity
of services and amenities, in short, those elements which make neighbourhoods
liveable places to live, work and play.

In green
neighbourhoods, the urban fabric allows for people to rely primarily on active
and public transportation. The housing stock offers a variety of dwelling types
and population is socially and economically mixed. Green neighbourhoods can
also include green infrastructure such as green buildings, rainwater recycling
and green energy production systems.

The first benefits of
green neighbourhoods are environmental. Research has shown that green
neighbourhoods reduce greenhouse emissions by 20 to 40% per person[i]
primarily because of the use of clean means of transportation.Green neighbourhoods also contribute to the
improvement of public health issues, such as obesity, because their residents
tend to be more active and drive less than the average North American.Green neighbourhood initiatives are by the
way often used to develop a culture of active transportation, especially among
children, in communities.

Green neighbourhoods,
however, are rarely built from scratch. In fact, location plays a central
role.Inner city neighbourhoods, which
are a stone’s throw away from commercial streets, employment centers and most
amenities, are much more likely to become green neighbourhoods than those in
low-density car-reliant suburbs. But still, actions can be taken to make a
place genuinely “greener” regardless of the location.

A first approach taken
to implement green neighbourhood is to build a participatory process to find creative
ways to promote active transportation. Based on the feedback of the community,
several measures such as the enhancement of the public realm, residential densification,
the introduction of new proximity services and the organization of local events
and activities are put forward. In Montreal for example, a pilot project called
Green, active and healthy neighbourhoods
has proven effective in identifying safety issues and barriers to active
transportation in the public realm and proposes design enhancement strategies.

The environmental
issues the world is facing require innovative solutions beyond mere technological
progress. Designing more sustainable cities, where walking, cycling,
skateboarding and public transportation become the main means of transport in
daily life is one of them. Green neighbourhoods are a step to take to achieve
this goal. Furthermore, as environmental awareness grows and people are seeking
healthier lifestyle, the creation of green neighbourhoods becomes a promising
solution for the city of the 21st century.